


Perfume

by gyucheollie



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-07 22:00:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21224897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gyucheollie/pseuds/gyucheollie
Summary: first few droplets of rain started falling, people around started seeking for shelter. mingyu ran to a nearby cafe for shelter but as he was running, someone brush against his shoulder and made him stopped in his tracks. for that moment, he caught a whiff of that familiar scent that he always longed for. he turned around to find that person but there were way too many people and he didn’t know who it was. suddenly a clap of thunder jolted him back to senses and he decided to come back another day to see if fate will bring the guy to him.





	Perfume

mingyu and minghao used to be lovers until the day minghao had to leave for paris due to his career.

mingyu and minghao started dating during college and minghao always have this bottle of perfume that he brings around in his bag. mingyu and minghao have always been the popular campus couple that everyone envy because of what minghao did for mingyu before they became a couple. 

minghao and mingyu used to be just strangers and classmates on campus, nothing more, nothing less. minghao was the popular kid on campus that everyone just wants to be friends with him whereas mingyu always gets bullied. until one day, mingyu was getting bullied at the hallway near his locker where the bully punch him just for his lunch money. minghao saw that was a crowd near his locker and decided to walk over to see what is happening. when he reached the area, he saw the seungkwan, the bully sitting on top of mingyu demanding for his lunch money while getting punched in the face. minghao pulled seungkwan away from mingyu, stepping in between both of them and that’s when mingyu finally found his shield of protection.

they started dating for a period and mingyu came to realise that minghao had a vulnerable side of him and that he could actually protect minghao whenever he needs to. minghao was always there for mingyu whenever and no one dares to come near both of them. soon, mingyu learnt to be dependent on minghao and they never separate from each other.

after dating for 2 years, mingyu have always been happy whenever he was with minghao. he also learn that minghao only used that one kind of perfume that had a unique scent. the scent have a mixture of citrus and nature that mingyu finds it intriguing. minghao always made sure that he sprays the perfume before he leaves the house as he knows how much mingyu love the smell and how mingyu finds it comforting. 

one extremely cold night, mingyu came back home from work to see minghao packing his luggage. he quickly went up to minghao and ask why he was packing and where was he going. minghao ignored him while packing as he wants to get it over and done with. all mingyu could do was to back hug minghao crying and ask him what was going on. for that moment, minghao stopped packing and turn around to only pull mingyu away from him. he faced a crying mingyu right in front of him so vulnerable and he wanted to protect him so much but he knew that he needed to leave him. minghao took a deep breath in and wipe the tears from mingyu’s face. he then told mingyu that he was offered a modelling job in paris and he have to leave him. mingyu kept crying and told minghao not to go but all minghao could do was to pull himself away from mingyu as he finished packing, pulling his luggage to the front door. mingyu kept on crying to the extent that he didn’t have anymore energy and dragged himself to the front door as he persuaded minghao one last time to stay with him. 

minghao gave mingyu one last forehead kiss with a hug before he left and never came back after. 

mingyu cried into his pillow which was filled with the scent minghao have left all day and night until seokmin, his best friend came by his house as he failed to attend work for 2 weeks. the doorbell rang a couple of times but mingyu was too tired to even get up to open the door. the ringing stopped when he heard the front door opened and the first thing that came to his mind was whether minghao came back, so he got himself out of bed but only to be greeted by seokmin. mingyu saw seokmin and dragged himself back to bed as he covered himself with the blanket that was the only source of where minghao’s scent still lingered. seokmin got worried and followed mingyu back into the bedroom to only see mingyu being wrapped up like a burrito in his bed. seokmin went beside his bed and tapped mingyu on his shoulder but mingyu wouldn’t budge at all. 

“mingyu, you need to get up and tell me what’s wrong. you didn’t attend work for the last 2 weeks or even answer my calls, everyone’s worried about you.” seokmin said. all he could hear was mingyu’s sobbing into the pillow and he just sat there till mingyu have calmed down. 

after 3 hours where seokmin spent the time reading and doing his work, mingyu woke up as he fell asleep while crying. mingyu got off his bed to go to the toilet to wash up and greeted seokmin after. mingyu sat down on the floor by his bedside and curled up like a ball as seokmin sat in front of him. “gyu, you need to tell me what is going on, what happened this past 2 weeks?” seokmin said worriedly. mingyu sat there quietly as he is not sure where he should even start. “It’s okay, I'll be right here waiting for you to speak when you feel like it because that’s what best friends do right? always being there for each other.” seokmin said in a cheerful tone just to lighten the mood a little. 

after 20 minutes, mingyu decided to speak and tell seokmin what happened. he started to tell seokmin what happened on the night when minghao left after he came back from work, how he persuaded minghao to stay and what happened during the 2 weeks that he stayed in bed without moving an inch. at that very moment where mingyu broke down, all seokmin could do was hug mingyu and comforts him, telling him that he deserves better and there’s always someone else right there for him. seokmin decided to cook dinner that night for both of them as mingyu didn’t have the energy to cook nor appetite to eat. mingyu just didn’t want to leave the bedside as he inhaled the scent that lingered around and he never wants to forget. after having the dinner that seokmin cooked, mingyu curled up like a ball again as he felt that urge to cry again, he can’t seem to forget about minghao because he just left him just like that without a proper ending. all he could remember was that minghao gave him a last forehead kiss followed by a hug and left without a word after. 

seokmin sat down beside mingyu and tell him that he needs to get himself together. all mingyu could do was to sniffle and sob quietly as seokmin updated him what he have missed out during the last 2 weeks of work. mingyu told seokmin that he needed another day or two to get himself together before he heads back for work because he knows that no matter how long he stayed in bed, minghao would never be coming back for him anymore. 

after 2 days of getting himself back together, mingyu went back to work as usual and got his morning coffee from the nearby cafe beside his office building. as he walked into the cafe after 3 weeks, the smell of aromatic coffee hits him and that’s where he knew how much he missed the coffee. as he was placing his order at the cafe, he sat down near the window seat waiting as there was a morning crowd that it might take some time for them to do his order. while waiting, he took out his phone and scroll through his social media, suddenly a familiar scent hits him, he started to look around to see who was the person who was wearing that particular scent. He looked around frantically but there were too many people in the cafe for him to identify who is the one.

the barista called his name and order, all he could do was just to take his order and leave for work. that scent still lingers in his nose and he couldn’t stop thinking about it. he drank his coffee and told himself to stop thinking about it as he has not been to work for the past 3 weeks. he reached the office building, went up to level 64th and quickly catch up on what he have missed. soon after, it was noon, seokmin came over to find mingyu for lunch and they went down to the nearby restaurant where their other colleagues were waiting for them. seokmin and mingyu quickly went over to settle down while the others were making their orders. mingyu said hi to everyone and realised that there was a new colleague that he was not familiar with. 

as they were chit chatting, all the food slowly arrived on the table and that was when seokmin introduced the new colleague to mingyu. his name was jeon wonwoo, a colleague from the marketing department. mingyu also learnt that wonwoo is one year older than him. they shook hands and smiled at each other as they continued to have their lunch. soon, they proceeded back to the office and he learnt that wonwoo works at the 71st floor with lee jihoon, the marketing executive. 

after a few hours have passed, mingyu ended his work at 6pm sharp. the sky was dark as if it looked like it was about to rain so he quickly packed his bag and ask seokmin if he was leaving too. seokmin told him that he is staying back with the marketing executive to discuss about the upcoming fashion show. mingyu waved seokmin goodbye and quickly make his way down to the cafe to grab a slice of cake before he goes home.

when mingyu reached downstairs, he realised the sky became darker and and it started drizzling. people who were walking on the streets and coming out from the office building started seeking for shelter. mingyu decided to run to the nearby cafe for shelter but as he was running, someone brush against his shoulder and made him stopped in his tracks. for that moment, he caught a whiff of that familiar scent that he always longed for. he turned around to find that person but there were way too many people and he didn’t know who it was. suddenly a clap of thunder jolted him back to senses and he decided to come back another day to see if fate will bring the guy to him. mingyu quickly went into the cafe for shelter. he then decided to dine in at the cafe so he got himself a slice of cake and a cup of hot chocolate while waiting for the rain to stop. at that moment, he couldn’t stop thinking about the person he met in the morning and just now who had the same scent of perfume his ex-lover used to use. he wondered if that person was minghao in the first place but then he couldn’t be the only one using that perfume. 

it was the weekend where wonwoo decided to visit the antique shop he always go to every weekend for books and perfumes. he loves the smell of old books and unique perfume smells that he could find in that particular shop. the shop is being managed by an old couple who always loved it when wonwoo visits them, bringing them some tarts and tea for them to enjoy. wonwoo could spend up to 3 hours in the shop as he tends to get very drawn in to the books and perfumes that they have in the shop. this time when wonwoo visited the shop, he bought a bottle of his favourite perfume and four books that can accompany him for the whole of next week at home. 

wonwoo either spends his time at the antique shop else he would spend his time at home reading with a cup of hot chocolate as he wears his favourite oversized sweater. wonwoo likes to spend time alone as the silence around him comforts him alot. he seems to be a quiet person but once you get to know him, he’s actually a nice guy to be around as he tends to make jokes and talks about topics that old people tend to share. 

alarm started blasting on a monday morning, mingyu groaned as he tapped furiously on his phone’s alarm to snooze it. he decided to lay down for another 5 minutes but his alarm started blasting in his ears that he just forced himself to sit up and get ready for work. he stopped the alarm and played his morning playlist to get himself ready for work, he quickly showered and change for work. he decided to prepare his breakfast and headed to the kitchen as he felt that today would be a great start for the week. as usual, mingyu went to grab a cup of latte from the cafe before heading to work. it was going to be a busy week in the company for everyone as the upcoming fashion week was 2 weeks later and they needed to get everything done this week so they can set up next week. mingyu quickly settled down and finishing up the designs he needed to show later at the meeting. 

at 10.55am, seokmin informed everyone that the meeting starts at 11am. mingyu took his laptop, files and planner with him then made his way to the meeting room. on his way to the meeting room, that familiar scent hit him and he didn’t want to think about it as he didn’t want to affect his thoughts on the meeting later. the meeting went on as usual for the next 3-4 hours where the designing team, marketing team and logistics team discussed what they need to work on together. the smell lingered in the meeting room that mingyu couldn’t focus on what was happening as he was trying to find out who’s the mystery person as he knew the person was in the room. 

when the meeting ended, mingyu decided to go grab a late lunch and while exiting the meeting room, he caught a whiff of the smell again from the person in front of him. he didn’t recognise the person from the back so he tapped the person’s shoulder and the person turned around. and the mystery person was jeon wonwoo.

mingyu cleared his throat as he felt embarrassed and scratched his nape. wonwoo smiled at him and ask him if he needed anything. mingyu smiled and decided to ask wonwoo if he wanted to have lunch together since the others still have things to discuss in the meeting room. wonwoo nodded his head and told mingyu to wait for him downstairs as he needed to put his things down at his place before heading down. mingyu nodded as he went to his place to put his things down before taking his wallet and heading down to wait for wonwoo. after 5 minutes, they met downstairs and they went to the small diner down the street to have their lunch. they entered the diner and sat down at the window booth near the corner. they looked through the menu and decided to call the waiter to place their order. mingyu ordered a burger set with a side of fries and cola while wonwoo ordered a burger set with a side of mashed potatoes and strawberry smoothie. 

while waiting for their orders to come, mingyu decided to start a conversation with wonwoo. mingyu decided to ask the basic questions like where he stays, who he stays with, does he have any siblings, so on and so forth. mingyu was still curious about the familiar scent that lingers around wonwoo so he decided to ask wonwoo what scent was that and where did he get it from. mingyu asked wonwoo about the perfume that he was using as he finds the scent intriguing. wonwoo then decided to tell mingyu that he got this bottle of perfume from an antique shop that he frequently visits and it was the last bottle. wonwoo told mingyu that he found this scent to be unique as he hardly find this kind of scent outside at those shopping malls. 

as they were talking, the food arrived on the table and they started eating their burgers. wonwoo continued telling mingyu what were his hobbies as mingyu kept bombarding him with questions. mingyu decided to dip his fry into wonwoo’s strawberry smoothie as he was drinking it and ate the fry after. all wonwoo could do was laughed softly as he saw the playful side of mingyu and found it cute. after the playful lunch “date” that they had, they walked back to the office together, going back to their respective floors to finish up whatever they need before they have to set up everything. mingyu bid wonwoo goodbye as he exited the lift on the 64th floor while wonwoo goes up to 71st floor.

after a few months of getting to know each other, mingyu asked wonwoo out on wonwoo’s birthday and the quiet boy nodded. they started dating since then and mingyu always love it when wonwoo hug him as he was always able to inhale the scent that might have given him a sense of protection. 

wonwoo always made sure that he sprays the perfume before he leaves the house to fetch mingyu before they head to work. he grew to know that mingyu liked this scent so much on him and will never let go when they hug. on weekends, mingyu will always go over to wonwoo’s apartment to cook, watch movies and cuddle. he told himself to never let go of wonwoo and never to leave him. 

as the weekend passed, it was a monday morning again, mingyu did his daily routine and got ready for work. wonwoo didn't fetch him as he needed to be at work earlier due to the marketing team had a last-minute meeting. mingyu walked to work and he passed by a tech store with a lot of tv stores on display. the tv played his ex lover's commercial on the screen and he stopped in his tracks as he saw the commercial playing. for that moment, his heart ache as a tear fell unknowingly and then he realised how much he missed his ex lover.

he wiped the tear that fell unknowingly and walked to the cafe to get his morning coffee dose before heading to work. he went to the office as usual and got his work done before wonwoo came down to find mingyu for lunch. mingyu told wonwoo that he didn’t have much of an appetite today, so wonwoo told him to eat something light and not leave an empty stomach. 

after work, wonwoo decided to bring mingyu on a dinner date as he felt that mingyu needed some time to unwind from the stress he probably got from work recently due to rushing deadlines. wonwoo decided to give a surprise and fetch mingyu from his work area, he took the initiative to head down 5 minutes earlier so that he will reach there on time and they will have ample time for each other. 

they went for their dinner date at mingyu’s favourite cafe where they served his favourite carbonara. all wonwoo wanted to do was just to see mingyu smile and relax after a long day at work. 

the week went on busy for the both of them as they were busy preparing the set up for their company’s fashion week that was happening next week. mingyu and wonwoo couldn’t meet for lunch due to their schedules not being able to match as they are working on a different team. that timing was also when mingyu started to distance himself from wonwoo as that commercial that he saw that day never left his mind. all of those thoughts in his head were somewhat affecting him mentally at work and sometimes he tends to zone out more that he doesn’t realise it. 

soon, fashion week started and all 3 teams working on this project were making sure everything was in place so that it would run smoothly without any errors or mistakes in between. each of them in the teams made sure all things are up and going for the fashion week. mingyu have been so busy at the backstage while wonwoo had to make sure that all guests have arrived and they didn’t get to see each other at all. during the break at noon, it was time for everyone to get some food and drinks in the break room to fuel up their energy. 

wonwoo went to the break room to get a drink and he saw mingyu coming in after. wonwoo walked up to mingyu with a bottle of drink and a bento set, wanting to feed his boyfriend as he saw him working so hard backstage. wonwoo sat down with mingyu at the corner of the room, opening up the bento set for mingyu to eat, he tried to feed mingyu but mingyu just took another set of cutlery and started eating on his own. he didn’t bother about the love of his life who was right in front of him, worrying about him.

it wasn’t even 10 minutes till mingyu was being called back to backstage to help out and he just walked out without saying a single word to wonwoo. wonwoo started to think why was mingyu acting like this and if he did something to mingyu that mingyu was ignoring him right now, he then told himself to put the thoughts aside and ask mingyu when he have the chance to.

fashion week ended on a good note and it was a successful project that company have achieved. soon the company informed all the staff that was involved in the project that they have a week off to rest up and enjoy their break time after working so hard for this big project. wonwoo then decided to go over mingyu’s apartment to spend some time and to catch up on whatever they have missed over the time they lost. 

wonwoo key in the password on the keypad and entered mingyu’s apartment, bringing mingyu his favourite mango pudding as he knows that will make mingyu happy. he didn’t see mingyu in the living room so he decided to make his way up to mingyu’s bedroom. he opened the door to mingyu’s bedroom and saw that mingyu was wrapped up like a burrito sleeping. wonwoo went beside his bed and knelt down, looking at his puppy like boyfriend sleeping so peacefully. 

wonwoo use his hand and brushed mingyu’s bangs lightly as he smiled. mingyu stirred in his sleep and woke up when he smelled that scent, he knew his boyfriend was here but somewhat it triggered him to remember his ex lover too. he opened his eyes to see wonwoo staring down at him smiling and the way his nose scrunches up makes mingyu feel soft. “good morning gyu, i’m here to deliver a special delivery.” wonwoo then kissed mingyu on the forehead.

“good morning won, did you perhaps bring my favourite mango pudding?” mingyu giggled and looks at wonwoo. “you are definitely my smart boyfriend, aren’t you? quickly get up so we can eat the pudding together.” mingyu got out of bed with the help of wonwoo and went to the bathroom to wash up then made his way to the living room where wonwoo was waiting for him. 

they spend their day eating the mango pudding wonwoo bought, watching tv and cuddling, till wonwoo decided that he should talk to mingyu about what happened the other day. mingyu was leaning against wonwoo and all cuddled up to him. wonwoo broke the silence, “gyu, can i ask you something?” at this point, mingyu sat up and looked at wonwoo because the tone in wonwoo’s voice sounded serious. “yeah sure won, what is it about?” mingyu asked not knowing what was going to happen. “what happened during fashion week? you didn’t look at me, you didn’t talk to me during the break and you just ignored me when i wanted to feed you.” 

when mingyu listened to what wonwoo asked, he knew that this was going to happen one day and the day was today. mingyu was unsure on how to reply to wonwoo as he couldn’t put all his thoughts together at that point of time. “what’s happening gyu, can you please tell me? you know how much it actually hurt me that you ignored me during fashion week? do you know how hard it was for me to see you smiling with the others but me?” mingyu started crying at this point of time because he knew that whatever he was doing was hurting the both of them. 

wonwoo started to shake mingyu’s shoulders, demanding an answer from him as tears fell. “won… I'm sorry… it’s just that so many things have been in my head that I can't process what was happening.” at this point of time, mingyu was shaking but wonwoo kept demanding answers from him, “what was the problem gyu, what things? why aren’t you sharing your problems with me? didn’t we say that we will get through it together? didn’t we?” 

at this point mingyu couldn’t take it and he yelled at wonwoo out of frustration, “it’s the perfume, the perfume you are wearing, every single time it just reminds me of an unhappy past! I couldn’t take it that this scent always reminded me of someone, someone who I used to love, someone who told me that he would always be there for me and he would never leave me! he lied to me the day he left me and recently I saw his commercial on tv, it literally hit me like a truck that he left me for good. was i not good enough for him? was i not a model that’s why he decided to leave me to go paris to pursue further for his career while I’m stuck here not knowing what was the exact reason he left me for good.” mingyu cried out loud after yelling all his thoughts out. wonwoo was shocked at how mingyu just yelled at him and tried to process what mingyu just said to him. he looked down at his hands shaking as he knew that he could not break down. the next thing he did was to go to his bag and took the bottle of perfume in his hand, holding it tight. he was so angry that he threw the bottle of perfume on the ground and it shattered to pieces like how his heart shattered into a million pieces as he thought that mingyu didn’t like him for who he was but only for the scent that brings him a sense of protection and comfort.

after wonwoo threw the bottle to the ground, that was when he decided that mingyu didn’t love him and only used him as he felt mingyu only needed that shield of protection. when wonwoo decided to take his things and leave, mingyu saw the shattered pieces of glass on the ground and suddenly it hit him that he loves wonwoo for who he was and not for the scent that always lingered on him because of how caring and loving wonwoo was towards him. all the different memories that mingyu had with wonwoo flooded in his mind, he realised how wonwoo was different from his ex lover. how wonwoo was always there before him, how wonwoo would prepare a special delivery or surprise for him just to cheer him up, giving him special treatments on days that he is stressed out or tired, always making sure that he was eating and doing well. 

wonwoo was about to exit the apartment when mingyu stood up quickly and gave him a back hug and not letting him go. mingyu was crying so hard that he was soaking wonwoo’s shirt and wonwoo couldn’t help but to cry. the both of them were hurting because of one’s mistake that almost cost the whole relationship. “won, please don’t leave, you can hit me, hit me all you want because I was an asshole to you, I was such a jerk for making you think that I used you just because I needed that scent of yours.” wonwoo felt mingyu hurting so much in the heart that he just turned around and kept hugging mingyu while mingyu soaked wonwoo’s shirt with his tears. no matter how much mingyu have hurt him, he couldn’t bear to leave him because he loved him too much. they sat on the couch holding onto each other that once mingyu have calmed down, wonwoo just wanted to give mingyu all the forehead kisses that makes the younger one relax. mingyu held onto wonwoo’s sleeves tightly, not letting go because he was afraid that wonwoo would leave him again. wonwoo tried sitting mingyu up so that he could see his face and reassure mingyu that he isn’t leaving but he just wants to tell him something. 

“gyu baby, i am so sorry for not hearing you out, getting all frustrated with you and even breaking the last bottle of perfume that anyone could have gotten right in front of you. you must have been scared by my actions and just everything. I promise that I’m not leaving you, i just got angry and my mind was thinking straight.” wonwoo reassure mingyu by rubbing his hands up and down mingyu’s arms. mingyu continued to sniffle and sob as he was still shaken from the incident but he tried to speak, “i-i am sorry won, sorry for not telling you earlier and sharing it with you. I didn’t mean to keep it from you because i thought i moved on well but I was wrong and I was scared that you would not be happy with me. I am sorry for everything that i have caused to have hurt both of us right now.” 

all wonwoo could do right now was to comfort mingyu, giving him the shield of protection that he never failed to be giving mingyu all along. the bottle of perfume with the shattered pieces of glass lay in front of their eyes as they knew that it was the end for that scent but wonwoo comforted mingyu by saying that they can create their own kind of unique perfume that only belongs to the both of them, no one else can have it at all. 

that was when mingyu knew all he needed was just the right person with the right scent that belongs to them.


End file.
